Nebraska's LB 36 establishes the Safe Battery Collection and Recycling Act, requiring producers of covered batteries (excluding medical devices, vehicle batteries, and certain electronics) to join designated battery stewardship organizations by January 1, 2028. These organizations must meet recycling efficiency targets for collected batteries, with penalties for noncompliance. The bill also creates a Home Weatherization Clearinghouse to support energy efficiency programs and includes provisions for mitigating habitat impacts on threatened or endangered species. It modifies water recreation, groundwater allocation, and Game and Parks Commission permit rules but focuses primarily on battery recycling requirements for producers and retailers.
LB 265 establishes a pilot program providing one-time grants to eligible Nebraska manufacturers for technology upgrades that increase productivity. It directly affects manufacturers meeting specific criteria (e.g., operating 3+ years, generating 51% revenue from goods, employing 3+ full-time staff) who must match grant funds 1:1 with private investment. The program allocates up to $250,000 from the Workforce Development Fund, capping individual grants at $50,000 for projects like job training or specialized equipment. The bill also transfers related funding, adjusts unemployment tax rates, and eliminates the Nebraska Worker Training Board.
LB 298 establishes the Office of Public Counsel and the Division of Legislative Oversight within Nebraska's state government. It creates a publicly appointed oversight role (the Public Counsel) to monitor state agencies, including child welfare and correctional systems, with a 6-year term and restrictions on political involvement. The bill also forms a Legislative Oversight Committee and reorganizes related oversight bodies by amending over 50 statutes, while eliminating outdated provisions. This primarily affects state agencies and oversight offices, streamlining their structure without creating new public policies or regulations.
LB 376 modifies reporting requirements for physicians performing abortions and changes dental hygienist practice rules. It eliminates numerous reporting obligations across state programs, including child care services, medical assistance, and firearm purchase databases. The bill also removes specific duties from agencies like the Board of Emergency Medical Services, Division of Children and Family Services, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Overall, it streamlines or repeals multiple administrative requirements and program structures within Nebraska's health and human services framework.
This bill creates Nebraska's "Protection Orders Act," strengthening legal safeguards for domestic violence victims. It extends the duration of protection orders, allows victims to request immediate lock changes or lease modifications from landlords, and requires reporting child abuse/neglect involving military families to relevant military installations. Key provisions include court-ordered removal of abusers from shared homes, temporary custody of children, and specific protections for household pets during domestic violence cases. The law directly affects domestic violence victims, their children, military families, and landlords navigating tenant safety concerns.
This bill allocates $680,000 annually from the General Fund for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27 to the Legislative Council. The funds are specifically designated to support implementation of Legislative Bill 298 (the main bill it references) and are subject to annual salary limits of $590,500 and $615,700 respectively. It modifies existing budget lines for the Legislative Council's Office of Public Counsel and repeals prior appropriation language, with immediate effect due to an emergency declaration. The bill does not change policy but adjusts funding for legislative operations.
This bill makes minor technical corrections to an existing law (the Child Pornography Prevention Act) by adjusting how a subsection is referenced in the statute. It does not create new restrictions on social media or computer-generated content, despite the title's misleading reference to a "Parental Rights in Social Media Act" and prohibiting computer-generated child pornography. The actual text only edits page 56-57 of the law to remove a subsection designation and adjust punctuation. As a procedural amendment, it directly affects legal references but does not change substantive law or impact any specific group.
LB 454 amends Nebraska law to update rules for regional behavioral health authorities and establish the Behavioral Health Services Fund. It requires these authorities to adopt uniform fee policies based on consumer income (not exceeding service costs), mandate competitive bidding for services unless specific exemptions apply, and maintain separate budgets for behavioral health funding. The new Behavioral Health Services Fund will provide grants, loans, and reimbursements to support community-based behavioral health services statewide, including housing assistance for very low-income adults with serious mental illness. These changes directly affect regional behavioral health authorities, behavioral health providers, and consumers receiving public behavioral health services.
LB 306 modifies school residency rules to clarify admission for non-resident students, military families, and students in residential settings. It requires all Nebraska school districts to maintain a centralized financial database and mandates public and private colleges to report funding from "foreign adversarial sources" to the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education. The bill also updates scholarship programs (Nebraska Career Scholarship Act and Door to College Scholarship Act) and adjusts governance for the Nebraska State Colleges Board. These changes aim to increase transparency in school funding and foreign financial influences on higher education.
LB 391A is an appropriation bill that provides funding to support Legislative Bill 391 (the main bill, not detailed here). It allocates $1,000,000 from the Give to Enable Support Cash Fund for fiscal year 2026-27 to Program 475, and $98,687 from the General Fund for fiscal year 2025-26 to Program 102. The bill explicitly prohibits using these funds for state employee salaries or per diems. This funding mechanism enables the implementation of Legislative Bill 391's provisions but does not describe the main bill's content.
Nebraska's LB 77 adopts the Ensuring Transparency in Prior Authorization Act, requiring health insurers and Medicaid to clearly explain prior authorization decisions and post all requirements online by 2027. The law mandates that denials must be reviewed by a physician (or clinical peer) and include specific reasons citing coverage criteria, with expedited reviews for urgent care. It also requires insurers to cover biomarker testing - tests that identify specific biological markers for diagnosis - when prescribed by a doctor. This directly affects health insurers, providers, and patients by increasing transparency in coverage decisions and expanding access to certain diagnostic tests.
LB 380 updates Nebraska's Medicaid program integrity rules to improve fairness and transparency in audits. It requires program integrity contractors to provide clear written justification for audits, limit records requests to relevant documents, and send determination letters within 180 days. The bill also mandates that auditors use licensed healthcare professionals familiar with clinical standards and prohibits audits of capitated managed care claims or claims already under review. These changes directly affect Medicaid providers and contractors by standardizing audit procedures and protecting providers from improper overpayment claims.
